The Relationship Between Cement Quality and

Separation Cut Size

Yakup UMUCU1), Vedat DENIZ2), M. Fahri SARAÇ3), A. Erkan KUZGUN4)
1)
Yrd. Doç. Dr.; Süleyman Demirel University, Mining Engineering Department, Isparta, Turkey
2)
Prof., Dr.; Hitit University, Polymer Engineering Department, Çorum, Turkey
3)
Ph.D.; Süleyman Demirel University, Mechanical Engineering Department, Isparta, Turkey
4)
Süleyman Demirel University, Mining Engineering Department, Isparta, Turkey

Corresponding author Vedat Deniz: vedatdeniz@hitit.edu.edu.tr

Abstract
Cement is prepared by firing a mixture of raw materials, one of which is mainly composed of calcium carbonate and the other of alu-
minium silicate. The most familiar materials answering to this description are limestone and clay, both of which occur in nature in a
great number of varieties. Marls, which are a mixture of clay and shales, are also common raw materials for cement. The production
of cement is an energy-intensive process. The typical energy consumption of a modern cement plant is about 90–120 kWh per ton of
produced cement.
The service properties of cement such as workability and strength development are affected not only by the chemical and mineralogical
composition but also to a great extent by the fineness and particle size distribution of the cement produced; in practice often only the
strength development of cement is of primary interest. Yet the effect on workability is just as important. Moreover, the surface area
and granulometric parameters may also directly or indirectly affect the frost resistance and other durability-related properties of con-
crete. There are process engineering options for controlling fineness and particle size distribution of the cement by changing the mode
of operation of the mill and the separator.
This paper describes a study of the relationship between cement strength and separation cut size (d50). The separation cut size (d50) of
air separator products obtained by different days was ascertained by using particle size analysis. It was found that the cement fineness
and separation cut size (d50) are very effective on the strength of cement.

Keywords: cement production, cement quality, separation, cut size, air separator

Introduction grinding. While the requirements are basically

Cement production has undergone a tremendous
development over 2000 years. While the usage of
cement in concrete has a very long history, the in-
dustrial production of cements started in the mid-
19th century, first with shaft kilns, which were later
on replaced by rotary kilns as standard equipment
worldwide. Today's annual global cement produc-
tion has reached 2.8 billion tones, and is expected
to increase about to 4 billion tons per year. Major
growth is foreseen in countries such as China and
India as well as in regions like the Middle East and
Northern Africa (IEA & WBSCD, 2009).
Grinding is a high-cost operation consuming
approximately 60% of the total electrical energy
expenditure in a typical cement plant and 40% of
this energy is for raw material grinding. During the
last decade, there have been considerable improve-
ments in comminution efficiency not only due to
the development of machines with the ability to en-
hance energy utilisation, but also due to the optimal
design of grinding systems and operating variables
that enable more efficient use of existing machines
(Deniz, 2003; Deniz, 2004; Deniz, 2012).
Grinding efficiency is essential for all commi-
nution processes as raw material, coal and cement
the same in all cases, cement grinding has a spe-
cial additional focus, which is workability of the
final product and its strength development. Both
parameters not only depend on the particle size
but also to a large degree on the size distribution.
Even though technological development drastical-
ly increases in cement plant, grinding remains the
biggest source of energy consumption in cement
production. While total electrical energy consump-
tion for cement production is about 100 kWh/t of
cement, roughly two thirds are used for particle size
reduction (Tsakalakis and Stamboltzis, 2008; VDZ,
2008; VDZ, 2012).
Ball mills have been used for over 100 years for
milling processes in cement production. This mill
type has prevailed due to its reliability and the favor-
able properties of the cement ground with ball mills.
Primary ball mills were operated as open-circuit
mills, later; separators were added to produce im-
proved cement qualities in a closed circuit. Cement
grinding process in the ball mill generates a relative-
ly broad particle size distribution. The selected fresh
material feed, the rotational speed of the separator,
and the separation air volume flow, can adjust the
cement fineness (Schneider et al., 2011).

Inżynieria Mineralna — LIPIEC – GRUDZIEŃ <2015> JULY – DECEMBER — Journal of the Polish Mineral Engineering Society 189
 The particle size distribution of cement and/or
its components has an important influence on water
demand, the setting behavior, and the strength de-
velopment of cement in mortar and concrete.
The particle size distribution of the product de-
pends significantly on the mill system used for ce-
ment grinding and therefore especially affects the
choice of cement mills (Ellerbrock et al., 1990).
Non ground clinker does not have the qualities
of cement. Clinker must be ground finely to be able
to react with normal water. More finely ground ce-
ment has a larger specific surface and the reactive
area with water is thus larger. Contact with both fine
additives and gravel and sand surfaces is improved,
the initial hydration of clinker minerals is made
easier, and the distribution of hydration products
is accelerated. On the other hand, if cement is too
fine, it will get wet and will clot more easily when
stored. If it is used in concreting, it displays the ten-
dency to segregate by water erosion, the onset of
hardening gets shorter, and the hardening time gets
longer. Despite the higher initial firmness of cement
that is too fine (less than 20 µm), its final firmness
is not higher. The increase of grinding fineness in-
creases the intensity of hydration-heat generation;
shrinkage and the consequent tendency to form fine
cracks grows. This is reflected by the loss of the
mechanical properties of the final products. Thus,
over-grinding of clinker results in an increase in en-
ergetic demands and consequently in the final price
of the cement as well as in other adverse attributes
(Sverak et al, 2013).
Fig. 1. Observed Tromp curves as experimental determined in air separator
190 Inżynieria Mineralna — LIPIEC – GRUDZIEŃ <2015> JULY – DECEMBER — Journal of the Polish Mineral Engineering Society
To achieve the workability of the cement, suffi-
cient water must be added so that the particles can
move against each other. The required amount of
water is particularly influenced by the particle size
distribution. Consequently, the water demand of
cements from more comminution is higher, since
cements have narrower the particle size distribution
and thus there is a larger gap volume to be filled.
The strength of cements with the same specific
surface area increases with narrowing of the parti-
cle size distribution. This is caused by an increase
of completely hydrated fines as a result of the de-
creasing average particle size. This position param-
eter represents the fine particle fraction, which is
responsible for the strength behavior of the cement
(Schneider et al., 2011).
Several different techniques are available to
control the fineness of cement-based materials.
These include a series of non-destructive approach-
es (i.e., sieving (Erdoğdu and Turker, 1998; Paya
et al., 2002; Chindaprasirt et al., 2004), air clas-
sifying (Paya et al., 2002) or magnetic-extraction
(Chindaprasirt et al., 2004) methods as well as
destructive approaches (i.e., mechanical grinding
(Osbaeck and Johansen, 1989; Paya et al., 1996;
Kakali et al, 2000; Kiattikomol et al, 2001; Paya
et al., 2002; Jaturapitakkul et al., 2004; Sakai et
al., 2009; Sengul and Tasdemir, 2009; Sezer et al.,
2010) methods). The cement industry typically uses
ball-mill grinding as the preferred method to reduce
the size of clinker in cement manufacturing (Paya
et al., 1996).
 Air separator or dynamic separators are used
in a variety of industrial applications such as food,
chemical, minerals, building materials and other
fields that need to mass-produce fine particles in a
limited size range of controlling powder properties
including homogeneity and high quality.
The main performance characteristics to be con-
sidered in the design of dynamic air separators are
the pressure drop and the separation efficiency. The
pressures drop across the cyclone air separators a
significant characteristic since it is directly relat-
ed to the operating costs. The pressure drop over
a cyclone separator can be calculated when the
difference of the static pressure between the inlet
and outlet. The confidences in the dynamic sep-
arator flow-field predictions can only be obtained
by industrial experiment validation. The separator
efficiency can also be illustrated by the selectivity
curve or the Tromp curve. This curve shows, for
each cement grain size what percentage of the sep-
arator feed is selected as fines or retained as coarse
particles.
Separation cut size (d50) has been indicated di-
rectly from changes of the particle size distribution
of cement products in many studies. However, sep-
aration cut size between the compressive strength
important points of the cement quality has not been
investigated. In this study, the relationships be-
tween the separation cut size (d50) with compres-
sive strength of cement (as 2, 7 and 28 days) were
investigated.
Fig. 2. Corrected Tromp curves derived from observed Tromp curves
Inżynieria Mineralna — LIPIEC – GRUDZIEŃ <2015> JULY – DECEMBER — Journal of the Polish Mineral Engineering Society
Material and methods
The separation performance of a separator de-
vice depends on its structure, operating conditions,
separation cut size, feed amount, and cement parti-
cle size. The Tromp distribution curve shape relies
on the operating conditions of the used device than
the feeding material properties. The Tromp curves
were plotted using the samples taken at different
time periods for the same separator device.
Determination of separation cut size (d50) with
Tromp distribution curves
For this study, first, the particle size analyses
for the samples obtained from GÖLTAŞ Co. (Is-
parta/Turkey) air separator unit were performed.
The samples (separator feed, over flow and under
flow) were taken from the separation device (air
separator) at different time intervals. Afterwards,
the Tromp distribution curves were plotted for air
separator from the sieve size data of the products.
Following this study, both observed separation cut
size (d50) and corrected separation cut size values
were determined because of by-pass product for
the air separator, and efficiency curves were drawn
(Figure 1).
Material experiments were conducted at the ro-
tor cage rotary speeds of 130 rpm when the air inlet
velocity is 56.25 m3/second and the amount of sep-
arator feed is approximately 200t/h. Density of ce-
ment powder is 3150 kg/m3. The separation cut size
(d50) are not closer from as depending on the time
they obtained both observed Tromp curves (Figure
1) and corrected Tromp curves (Figure 2).
191
 Changes of the separation cut size (d50) as de-
pending on the time
In the actual classification process, the separation
cut size (d50) is defined as the diameter of a particle
whose partial classification efficiency is 50%. As
shown in Figure 3, the separation cut size (d50) is ob-
tained by experiments is between 78 µm and 38 µm.
Determination of compressive strength for ce-
ment quality
All mortars were prepared in a Toni technique
mixer according to ASTM C 305 (1996). After cast-
ing, the specimens were prepared for testing. The
compressive strength was measured using a To-
ni-Troll with cylindrical specimens (approximate-
ly 40 mm diameter and 150 mm height) in accor-
dance with ASTM C-39 (2003). Each test results
were consisted of the average of four samples made
experimental. All specimens were sealed until the
desired age of testing, which were 2, 7, and 28 days
for the cement.
The analysis conducted according to TSEN 196-
1 (2009) and TSEN196-6 (2010) standards, the ef-
fect of the separation cut size (d50) on the quality of
the cement are shown in Figure 4. The cement fine-
ness is very effective on the strength and optimal
fineness of cement must be specific for maximum
strength.
The biggest factors affecting the compressive
strength of cement are the heat of hydration. The
important factor is the particle size distribution and
the d50 values (mm) for cement.

Fig. 3. Relationship the separation cut size (d50) with hours on different days

Fig. 4. Relationship compressive strength with the separation cut size (d50)

192 Inżynieria Mineralna — LIPIEC – GRUDZIEŃ <2015> JULY – DECEMBER — Journal of the Polish Mineral Engineering Society
Conclusion
One of the most important factors in determining
the quality of the produced cement is the particle size.
The most important factors that determine the parti-
cle size distribution or the separation cut size (d50)
are the grinding circuit. In this study, the relationship
was shown that between separation cut sizes of air
separator and the compressive strength obtained on
different days with high correlation (> 80%). The
separation cut size (d50) is between 38 µm and 78
µm. The separation cut size (d50) are expressed, the
importance of determining the quality of cement.
It was observed that the separation cut sizes are
continuously varies. The reason for this was that the
separator feeding sizes were variable. Additionally,
the reason for this disorder could be attributed to
either the feeder was not arranged according to the
particle size of the feeding cement or carelessness
of the labourer during those hours.
It could be suggested that the feeding particle
size at the closed grinding-separator plant should
be note homogenous. Additionally, the variations
found in the process are caused by the automatic
measurement system not used in the plant. There-
fore, if there were established an automatic particle
size analysis system in the grinding-separator sys-
tem than the process would be improved.

Literatura – References
1. ASTM C-305, Standard practice for mechanical mixing of hydraulic cement pastes and mortars of
plastic consistency, The American Society of Testing and Materials, 1996.
2. ASTM C-39/C39M-03: Standard test method for compressive strength of cylindrical concrete
specimens, The American Society of Testing and Materials International, 2003.
3. CHINDAPRASIRT P., et al. "Influence of fly ash fineness on strength, drying shrinkage and sulfate
resistance of blended cement mortar." Cement and Concrete Research 34(7)/2004: 1087–1092.
4. DENIZ, V. "A study on the specific rate of breakage of cement materials in a laboratory ball mil."
Cement and Concrete Research 33(3)/2003: 439–445.
5. DENIZ, V. "The effect of mill speed on kinetic breakage parameters of clinker and limestone."
Cement and Concrete Research 34(8)/2004: 1365–1371.
6. DENIZ, V. "Estimation of the Bond grindability index from chemical analysis values and modulus
of mixture of raw material of marls" Advanced in Cement Research 24(1)/2012: 3–10.

Inżynieria Mineralna — LIPIEC – GRUDZIEŃ <2015> JULY – DECEMBER — Journal of the Polish Mineral Engineering Society 193
 7. ELLERBROCK H.-G. et al. "Particle size distribution and properties of cement: Part III. Influence
of grinding process." Zem-Kalk-Gips 43(1)/1990: 13–19.
8. ERDOGDU K. and TURKER P. "Effects of fly ash particle size on strength of portland cement fly
ash mortars." Cement and Concrete Research 28(9)/1998: 1217–1222.
9. EA & WBSCD. Cement Technology Roadmap 2009: Carbon Emissions Reductions up to 2050,
IEA and The World Business Council for Sustainable Development, 2009.
10. JATURAPITAKKUL Ch. et al. "Use of ground coarse fly ash as a replacement of condensed silica
fume in producing high-strength concrete." Cement and Concrete Research 34(4)/2004: 549–555.
11. KAKALI G. et al. "Hydration products of C3A, C3S and portland cement in the presence of
CaCO3." Cement and Concrete Research 30(7)/2000: 1073–1077.
12. KIATTIKOMOL K. et al. "A study of ground coarse fly ashes with different finenesses from vari-
ous sources as pozzolanic materials." Cement and Concrete Composites 23(4–5)/2001: 335–343.
13. OPOCZKY L. "Problems relating to grinding technology and quality when grinding composite
cements." Zement-Kalk-Gips 5/1993: 141–144.
14. OSBAECK B. and JOHANSEN V. "Particle-size distribution and rate of strength development of
portland-cement." Journal of American Ceramic Society 72(2)/1989: 197–201.
15. PAYA J., et al. "Mechanical treatment of fly ashes. 2. Particle morphologies in ground fly ash-
es (GFA) and workability of GFA-cement mortars." Cement and Concrete Research 26(2)/1996:
225–235.
16. PAYA J. et al. "Long term mechanical strength behaviour in fly ash/portland cement mortars
prepared using processed ashes." Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology 77(3)/2002:
336–344.
17. SAKAI E. et al. "Effects of shape and packing density of powder particles on the fluidity of cement
pastes with limestone powder." Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology 7(3)/2009: 347–354.
18. SENGUL O. and TASDEMIR M.A. "Compressive strength and rapid chloride permeability of con-
cretes with ground fly ash and slag." Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering 21(9)/2009: 494–501.
19. SEZER G.I., et al. "Microstructure of 2 and 28-day cured Portland limestone cement pastes." Indi-
an Journal of Engineering & Material Sciences 17(4)/2010: 289–294.
20. SCHNEIDER M. et al. "Sustainable cement production-present and future." Cement and Concrete
Research 41(7)/2011: 642–650.
21. SVERAK T. et al. "Efficiency of grinding stabilizers in cement clinker processing." Minerals Engi-
neering 43–44/2013: 52–57.
22. TSAKALAKIS, G.K. and STAMBOLTZIS, A.G. "Correlation of the Blaine value and the d80 size
of the cement particle size distribution." Zement-Kalk-Gips 61(3)/2008: 60–68.
23. VDZ. Environmental Data of the German Cement Industry. Verein Deutscher Zementwerke e.V.
(VDZ) Activity Report, 2008.
24. VDZ. Environmental Data of the German Cement Industry, Verein Deutscher Zementwerke e.V.
(VDZ) Activity Report, 2012.
25. TSEN 196-1, Methods of testing cement - Part 1: Determination of strength, Turkish Standards
Institute, 2009.
26. TSEN196-6TS, Methods of testing cement - Part 6: Determination of fineness, Turkish Standards
Institute, 2010.

194 Inżynieria Mineralna — LIPIEC – GRUDZIEŃ <2015> JULY – DECEMBER — Journal of the Polish Mineral Engineering Society